yet I will rejoice...

I had a whopper of a day, actually a whopper of a week. It is so difficult to compare our lives to the trials of others. Being the self-absorbed human that I am, it is not possible that anyone's life could be as tough as mine. I am listening to someone tell me of their awful experiences, and I feel that familiar thought creeping in, "you have no idea..."
I am presently doing a Bible study on the fruits of the Spirit. Of course, God brings all things into our lives for a purpose, but is it truely necessary to be tested in every area in the course of one day?
I once heard the metaphor that we are like tea bags and when placed in hot water, what is truely in our hearts will come out. There is so much truth to that statement. I am often chagrined to see that it is not the big things that make me stumble, but often a little incident will cause me to stumble and disappoint my Lord.
Well, the hot water was boiling this week. I was proud to see that I was leisurely doing the back stroke smoothly through, and then a little drop lands on my cheek and I lost all self-control. As the shame and guilt settled in, I lost even more, if that was possible. My husband knelt by the boiling water and held out his hand in grace. I was undeserved, which is what made it grace, and in humility I accepted his hand and allowed him to pull me out. I saw Jesus in him. When you see Jesus in another person, it is truly a beautiful thing.
The following day, I looked back on the situation to try to see where I went wrong. I went over the period of events that caused me to "lose it", and even though I felt that I was justified, I realized I took a wrong turn when I believed that I desperately needed someone to talk to and tell them my sad story. I ignored my Lord when He said "Cast your cares upon me." I opened His Word, His love letter to me, and I found a familiar verse that He has so often spoken to me in the last few months

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."

When casting my cares upon Him, the One who can truly say, "you have no idea.." never says that. Instead He lovingly says "I will work all things together for good, and nothing will separate you from My love."

I WILL REJOICE!!!